Faulty Cherubs
by irish-schmirish
Summary: Sequel short story to An Apple for Teacher and Not Him. This is what takes place during Chapter 24 of Not Him when the roof collapses at the talent show , from Anna's perspective.


Faulty Cherubs

I stepped forward to speak to my sister, Amalie, after her friends had vanished, preparing to yet again tell her how amazing of a job she had done during her performance at the talent show. I could see Zayn, who had attended the talent show, out of the corner of my eye as he spoke with my classmate Arnold. Why he was even at the talent show, I do not know, but Niall was there, too, and he appeared just as I was about to talk. No sooner had he arrived than my mum showed up, asking Niall how he liked the performance.

"I thought it was remarkable," Niall said, giving Amalie a look that for a second made me completely forget Zayn was less than ten meters away from me. It must have been the lack of food intake I had that day, but for a split second, the look Niall gave Amalie made me wonder if there was something going on between them that I did not know about. "The message was very clear and distinct. I totally got it and agreed with it. I absolutely love…loved it."

"I'm glad you liked it," Amalie said steadily, but she was staring at Niall with a slight sense of longing.

"Oh, here comes Zayn!" my mum said as if she was a five year old seeing Father Christmas for the first time in a mall. I tried my best to suppress it, but a small groan escaped my lips as Zayn moved away from Arnold and began walking over to join us. "I was surprised to see you two here."

"Well, two students from my school were in a performance, so I thought we should go," Niall said nonchalantly, adding in a small shrug to give his carelessness a bit of an overkill.

"Two students? No, there was only one. Amalie is the only student from St. Beatrice in this."

"I thought Drew went to St. Beatrice, too."

"No, he's just always around."

"Oh, does he live around the school?"

"No, he's just always around. Zayn, so nice to see you here."

"It's nice to see you, too, Mrs. Holmes," Zayn said in that arrogantly polite tone of voice he always used with my mum, as if he just [i]_knew[/i]_ she loved him and wanted to try his best to impress her with his manners. [i]_Despicable[/i]_, I thought bitterly as he stopped right next to me, making me tense my shoulders and pull them in a little so no part of my body would touch him. "How are you?"

"I'm very good. And how many times must I tell you to call me Gracie?" A blush instantly rose in my mum's face, which always made her look like a woman five years younger because of the shy smile that accompanied it. "How are you, dear?"

I suddenly became interested in a ring on my left hand as I felt Zayn's eyes fall on me for less than a second before he responded with, "I'm excellent, thank you." Before I could move out of the way, Zayn shifted a little so his shoulder was pressed up against mine. I did not even realize what had happened until I felt my shoulders ease, releasing all the tension. From the weird look Amalie gave me, I knew it would be too noticeable if I changed my whole body's position to move away from Zayn just a few inches. "Niall and I just finished the last of the moving in at our new flat. We only need the new furniture for the lounge area."

"Did Will help you move in?"

When my mum mentioned Will, I smiled a little bit, glad to see that even in the presence of Zayn, who she basically thought was the second coming of the Messiah, she remembered that I had a very capable, very attractive boyfriend. "Yeah, he helped us move in almost everything," Niall said with his usual amount of happiness even though my mum had obviously only directed the question toward Zayn. When I glanced at Zayn, I saw that his jaw was closed tight. "He left the heaviest bureau to us, though."

"How many neighbors had to help you with that?" I asked snappily, trying to catch Zayn off guard and make him accidentally mention what had caused him to clench his jaw when my mum mentioned Will. I mean…it was not like I cared deeply about the reason or anything…I was just very curious.

"None," Zayn said, a small icicle forming on his monosyllable response.

"Made Niall move it all by himself, did you?"

"No, he moved the bureau all by himself," Niall said almost defensively.

Zayn smirked at me, which just caused all my furious and hurt feelings toward him to resurface, making me storm away before I slapped him yet again. I walked toward one of the refreshment tables, picking up a random brownie and biting into it furiously. It was absolutely disgusting, and I instantly spit it out into the trashcan by the side of the table that was coincidentally almost completely full. I looked around at the ornately carved ceiling with the cherubs painted on it and in the corners at the top of the pillars, thinking that maybe a school this rich could afford some better food, or some better bakers. I wiped my hand on a napkin, threw it out, and turned to rejoin the group, praying that by the time I got back to them I would have calmed down a bit after the sudden rush of emotions that had hit me by having Zayn there.

I was hit this time with a sudden rush of surprise when I saw Zayn had left my mum, Amalie, and Niall, and was walking directly toward me. I became suddenly interested in the rings on my left hand again as I started walking, pretending not to notice Zayn. "Anna, can we just talk?" he asked me, his words feeling sharp against my skin even though they were spoken softly and quietly. I stopped, looking up at him to see his golden brown eyes were as unguarded as I had ever seen them. After a few moments I feared I had stared at them too long and looked away, spotting Niall and Amalie walking toward a food table together. I looked back at Zayn, but this time he was the one staring into my eyes as if he was searching for something, and I felt as if there was a little something inside my chest, pushing out in the direction of where Zayn was standing. We both stared at each other for a second, both of us uncertain about what to do next, when Zayn suddenly opened his mouth to speak.

"Anna, I think I'm fall-"

There was a loud pop from nearly right above us, a series of crackling noises, and then a huge crash that resounded throughout the entire room, followed by a series of loud gasps and screams from everyone around. It all happened so quickly that I did not even consider what had made the noise until I opened my eyes, seeing nothing but the sky blue of Zayn's button up shirt. It took another moment before I realized Zayn's arms were wrapped around me tightly, as mine were around him, and yet another moment before I noticed the huge pile of plaster and ceiling material that had fallen right on top of the refreshments table I had just been at. I coughed when I inhaled a small bit of dust, causing Zayn to instinctively push my head back down against his chest.

"I'm good," I told him, clearing my throat and looking up at him.

"Alright," he said with some uncertainty as he looked down at me.

At first I thought his uncertainty had to do with whether I was going to choke on any more dust, but as he leaned his head forward I realized he was talking about something much different. He pushed some of my hair back with his nose, placing the softest kiss I had ever felt right on my pulse. I think at that moment, all my vital organs began to shut down, but my mother certainly got them working again when she frightened me half to death by running over in hysterics and grabbing my hand as she thanked Zayn and asked me if I was okay.

"I'm fine," I told her, clutching her hand to reassure her so the color would start to come back into her face. I do not think she, or anyone else, realized that if I had not been stopped by Zayn, I would have been back with her when the ceiling fell, not so close to the destruction itself.

"You sure?" Zayn asked, his lips against my ear. When I felt his hot breath against my ear, goosebumps formed all over my arms but I managed to nod. I pulled away from him after realizing that I was still so close, surprised my mum had not practically ripped me away from Zayn to crush me in a hug.

I looked at Amalie, who was watching the both of us quickly, and I instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry, Amalie, but I think this is going to be over sooner than you wanted…" I said to her quietly.

"Are you seriously apologizing for something you had no control over?" she asked in a tone of disbelief. "Zayn, I think a piece of plaster made it through your body barricade and hit her head. This was boring anyways. I'm going to go find Drew and then we're going over Clarissa's. Is that okay, mum?"

"Yes, yes, of course," my mum said. She barely caught her breath before she pulled Amalie and me into a terribly painful hug, which confused both of us. "Aw, my Anna Lamb and Amalion." Amalie and I, as usual, groaned when she used our childhood nicknames. "I love you two so much."

"Love you, too, Mum," I said, taking a step back so I could breathe normally again.

"Love you," Amalie said, pulling away, also.

We all looked around to find that Zayn was already almost at the door, causing my mum to become visibly upset. Niall suddenly had to use the toilet but had no idea where it was, so Amalie had to show him. My mum told me to get my coat from the coatroom down the hall while she had a word with the principal, which I knew was not going to be an exactly pretty or civil word. I hurried off toward the corridor, not wanting to be present when my mum released her wrath on the principal for allowing unstable craftsmanship go unnoticed for such a long time that it just collapsed. When I entered the corridor, I was relieved to find that no one else was there, and quickly walked toward the coatroom. My heart skipped a beat because of how surprised I was to see Zayn standing in the room, looking through one of the racks for his coat. I knew he was deliberately trying not to make eye contact with me as he became suddenly interested in a long black fur coat hanging on the rack.

"I guess someone moved my coat," he said, trying to sound casual, "because I can't seem to find mine."

"What does it look like?" I asked him.

"Black?"

I shook my head with a small laugh and walked over, starting to look through the second half of the rack he was looking at. "Thank you, by the way. If it weren't for you, I'd be covered in dust right now."

"No problem," Zayn said, glancing over his shoulder at his back that was covered in a thick film of plaster and dust. "I'm never wearing these pants or this shirt again, though."

"I suppose not." I lifted up a black leather jacket to Zayn, raising an eyebrow, and he nodded. "This doesn't have any effect on my opinion of you after what you did, reading my essay and everything."

Zayn's face fell a bit, but he looked as if he was expecting it. "I thought it wouldn't."

He reached out to grab the handle of the hanger and pull it toward him, but I was clutching the shoulder of the coat and hanger so tightly I got pulled forward, too, bumping into his chest. I looked up, expecting him to be angry, but saw a smile on his face. Before I could stop myself, I had slid my hand along the side of his neck to pull his face closer to mine. I came so close to his lips that mine actually brushed his for a moment before I lowered my lips, kissing him gently on the place where his pulse was on his neck. I pulled my hand away and stepped back, moving toward the door quickly.

"Anastasia-" Zayn began to say, but I cut him off shortly.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Malik. Nice jacket, by the way."


End file.
